It's legal to badmouth your boss online

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Last Updated: Sat, Jan 26, 2013 04:10 hrs

Employees who are sacked for badmouthing against bosses have the right to share their grievances online without getting fired, according to a report.

"Under the National Labor Relations Act, workers have the right to discuss their wages and conditions of employment. Such protected activity generally involves two or more employees acting together to improve working conditions. However, not all activity is protected. Griping or ranting by a single employee is not protected, and certain behaviors will cause even group activity to lose its protection," Tony Wagner, an NLRB spokesperson, told FOXBusiness.com.

According to Fox News, employees are legally protected to air complaints online about working conditions, so long as it affects more than one person.

Forbes reported large corporations such as Target and General Motors are crafting more detailed social media policies in their employee handbooks, to ensure workers don't trash their bosses on the Web.

Now, the question is should small companies follow suit?

Larry Cary, partner at Cary Kane LLC, said smaller companies often don't have the time or resources needed to create detailed social media policies.

They rely on general resources available to them and focus on the day-to-day operations. But across the country, employment lawsuits are popping up regarding what is said on the Internet, due to a culture of online 'oversharers'.

Most employment policies are broad in scope, and the NLRB is concerned with written policies that are too broad and may limit an employee's freedom to speak their mind, regardless of the outlet, he said. (ANI)